Chapter 3- Isabella Swan

I could see the lone figure standing at the end of the alley. I couldn't move, frozen in fear. I knew if I ran he would catch me. I could see the dead bodies out the corner of my eye and I knew I was next. "James, stop playing with your food" The woman hissed. The figure stepped forward and was immediately before me. His demon red eyes staring into mine. A sinister smile spread across his face. "It's time Bella" James said before reaching his pale hand out to me. His fingers left any icy trial along my neck. His cool breath flowing over my face. There was a growl and then nothing but darkness.

I awoke with a start. Sitting up I wiped away the tears that fell while I was sleeping. I had only been living in this house for a week and the nightmares were coming back full force. This time I would face them. No running. It was time for me to start living my life and accept the past; that was my mission, rather my self conscious wanted it or not.

I swung my feet of the side of the bed and stood up. Today was the start of my new life. Ever since I had arrived back to my home in Forks a week ago, I had started going through all of my families old things; pictures, clothes, baby items, junk. It was very emotional for me and I broke down crying more than once, but it had to be done. By the time Saturday had arrived I had boxed up everything that was in the house and thrown away the old stuff that was no good. It was like I was spring and fall cleaning in one. So today was the beginning of redoing some the house and making it my own. I knew this was what my parents would want me to do.

I got dressed and made my way to the kitchen for some breakfast. While eating a bowl of cereal, I started thinking of what needed to be done today. The number one thing was hardware store for paint and the locks. Next, an appliance store, and then a furniture store. I think today would just be buying things and tomorrow would be the actual hard work. I placed the bowl in the sink and left for the store.

The hardware store was easy. I picked out paint for all the rooms in the house. It was a small two bedroom, one bath, with a living room, kitchen and small foyer. The outside was painted white and had a little porch. I lived on the outskirts of Forks. The house had belonged to my parents and was my childhood home, but when they passed all the money and assets went to me. I had more than enough money to do a little housework.

At the hardware store I also picked up cleaning supplies. The house was covered in dirt and grime from years of non use. The hardwood floors especially needed something to make their shine come back. After leaving there I went to the appliance and furniture store combined. Time I entered the store a sales employee helped me with everything. Usually I hated spending money, but I wanted be comfortable living in my home.

The employee, who I learned was named Eric took me to view the furniture they had. This was the hard part matching and getting just the right thing. I finally decided on a living room suit that went perfect for with my paint choices. Next was a queen bedroom suite. I also chose a new kitchen table and chairs to go with the new appliances and a few odd and ends here and there.

"Everything will be delivered this Tuesday," Eric told me. "We will also install the appliances and pick up any used furniture that you don't want."

"Thank you so much for everything," I told him sincerely. He was a really big help.

"You're welcome; have a good day Miss. Swan."

"You too," I walked out of the shop to my dad's old fishing truck. It was the only thing I had to get around in. I got in and cranked it up. A second later a red BMW convertible pulled up a few spots down. It was filled with three of the most gorgeous women I had ever seen. The one driving had long blonde hair with topaz eyes. She looked like she belonged on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. The woman in the passenger's seat had warm honey colored hair with the same topaz eyes. She looked like more of a motherly figure. In the back was a girl with short, spiky black hair. She also had the same color eyes. Were they all related? They got out of the car and started to enter the store. Right before she entered, the black haired one turned and looked straight at me. Her whole face lit up with a huge smile. She turned and joined the other two. What was that about?

I put the truck in reverse and left to go back home. It was going to be a long day. I pulled up in my driveway only to be met with an old Ford truck. I parked next to it and got out. I had no idea of who this was and I was a little apprehensive. I grabbed some of the paint cans and made my way to the front door only to be met with a young boy sitting on my doorstep. He had long black hair and tan skinned. I knew automatically he was from the local reservation, but he also looked very familiar.

"Hello," I said. "Can I help you?"

"Bella, Bella Swan?" He asked standing up.

"Umm… yes and you are?" I asked still a little worried about who this person was.

"It's me Jacob Black from La Push," He said. Oh yes! I had been meaning to go down to the reservation and see them. Billy Black was my father's best friend and his son was Jacob. They always watched baseball games and went fishing together. Jake was a good friend before we left for that fateful vacation. We used to make mud pies together and play at the beach. I sat the paint cans down.

"Jake," I said and stepped up to embrace him in hug. He wrapped his warm arms around me. It was very comforting. His scent reached my nose and wrapped me up into a familiar environment that I had longed for in a long time. It also brought back a lot of memories that I had buried. Billy had tried to do everything to become my legal guardian when my parents passed, but for some reason Billy was unable to obtain custody of me, so I automatically went into the hands of the State of Arizona. I never did blame the Blacks for not being able to take me in.

"Wow, you sure have grown. How old are you now?" I asked pulling back from him.

"Seventeen," Jacob said proudly. I just nodded. He sure looked older than that.

"It's been a long time. How is Billy now?" I walked over to the porch and sat down. Jacob followed suit and sat down beside me.

"He's good. In a wheelchair now. His diabetes has taken a toll on him."

"Oh, wow, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, so Bella how have you been?" Jake asked looking at me sincerely

"I'm pretty good. It's good to be back here. As you can see I have actually started working on the house," I said pointing to the paint cans. "I've been going through some old stuff. It's tough though." Jacob wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I rested into his embrace.

"Bella about that, my father told me he tried to adopt you and I just wanted to say I'm sorry, he's sorry he couldn't do more."

"Jake, I don't blame you two one bit. I understand completely and I will never hold it against you," I turned into him and gave him a hug. He returned it. "So what's been going on in good old Forks since I have been gone?" I asked trying to lighten the mood.

For the next two hours, Jacob and I sat on the front porch talking about everything, gossiping like two old ladies. He told me who to stay away from and what people were nice and friendly. It turned out Jacob had his eye on a young Quileute girl named Leah and was trying to open his own mechanic shop once he graduates high school. It felt really good to just sit down and talk to someone, I never made friends with anyone in Arizona, people tended to stay away from me. Jacob left right before it got dark. I promised I would have him and Billy over once the house was finished and that I would visit down at the reservation soon. I could tell we were going to be really good friends again and it felt actually nice to know someone here. Not that I didn't remember the people of Forks anyways, I was just never really close with any of them. My school days, before the incident, were mostly spent with my nose in my books. I was the quiet type. The only friend I could honestly remember having was Jacob and that was because he was always around with his father.

When he left I finished getting the rest of my supplies out of the truck and went inside. Since it was too late to get started on anything I decided to make dinner and went to bed early to start my long day tomorrow.

By the time the furniture arrived Tuesday morning I had cleaned every square inch of the house. It was officially spotless. The light color hardwood flooring was shining brightly and all the dust and mold had been removed. The painting was done in every room. The furniture guys delivered and placed it all where I wanted it. My parent's old bedroom suite was placed on their truck to go somewhere else with the old couch and loveseat from the living room. The technician's installed the new appliances and took the old ones away. Since they came early I decided today I was going to make the trip to Seattle. I needed bedding, a few kitchen appliances and clothes, particularly a rain jacket. What I really needed was to go ahead and buy a new car. I had no idea how long my father's old truck was going to last and once school started I would have to go to Seattle at least twice a week, so I would need something more reliable. I knew nothing of cars. That was when I got a wonderful idea. I ran to phone book and looked up their number.

"Hello," the husky, warm voice said

"Jacob?" I asked

"Yes, Bella?" he asked

"Yes, it's Bella. I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with me?"

"Okay, where?"

"Umm… Seattle?" I asked

"Sure, now?"

"Yes."

"Ok, I will be there in about fifteen minutes."

"See ya, bye."

"Bye," I placed the phone back in the receiver and ran up stairs. I changed out of my sweat pants and into jeans and a long sleeve shirt. I brushed my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. I didn't even worry about makeup; it was something I never really wore. I ran back downstairs and tripped on the last step. My knee hurt for a minute, but I was too excited to do anything about it. I usually hate shopping and I mean hate, but it was something that needed to be done and I would try not to spend too much. I made a quick list of what I needed and grabbed all my financial information. I could hear an old car pulling up in my driveway.

Jacob knocked at the door a few minutes later. I opened it to see his smiling face.

"Jake," I exclaimed and grabbed him into a hug. He chuckled at my enthusiasm. This was the first time I had really been happy in a while.

"So, you ready to go?" I asked

"Yes," I grabbed the keys to the old truck and we left. It wasn't until we were exiting the Forks city limits we started talking.

"So, what are we doing in Seattle?"

"Car shopping," I stated

"What," Jake asked shocked but I could tell he was happy.

"Well, I don't know much about cars and I knew you did. I have to go to Seattle twice a week this fall for college and I need something that is reliable, so I decided to call you, since you know about cars," I said

"Ok, well, what's my price range?"

"Well nothing to expensive, perhaps a small car."

"Alright, well we can start at the Chevrolet dealership and then go from there. I don't think you want to go BMW or all that do you?" he asked skeptically.

"No, nothing to flashy," I replied, surprised I even knew what a BMW was. I wasn't big on luxury designer vehicles. Plus I doubt they were in my price range.

"So how's the house work going?" Jacob asked changing subjects.

"Good, the inside is almost done and then I'm going to do some stuff on the outside, like cut the grass, fix the porch with some flowers."

"Well, I could come cut the grass and help you if you wanted me to. I know over the years we checked up on the house so I don't think there is anything to major wrong with it."

"You did?" I asked surprised

"Oh, yeah, we used to cut the grass all the time during the summer, we just haven't got to it this year."

"That's ok, and yes I would love for you to help me," I said sincerely. Any help I could get would be a major asset.

"Great what day should I come over?"

"Umm… how about Thursday, I'm just ready to get everything done. It feels really good to be fixing the house back up; I know my parents would want me to."

"Yes, they would. They would be proud of you, you know," Jacob said

"I know, Jake you're a really good friend and I'm glad we got to know each other again," I said smiling at him.

"Well you're a good friend to have, so what else is own this agenda today?" he asked

The rest of the ride was with us talking and making jokes. I couldn't wait to have them over for dinner one night; they were pretty much the only family I had left. Two hours later we pulled up at the Chevy dealer. The salesmen were on us like water in a dry desert. I tried out a few cars, but nothing felt right. Jake tried to get me to get a Corvette. That was nowhere near my price range and I would be scared to drive it. With my luck I would wreck it an hour after I bought it. We left there and went to the Ford dealer. I test drove a few vehicles that was in my price range, I didn't like them either. The last car I got in I loved. Jake agreed with me. He did a little checking under the hood and made sure it was reliable enough. We agreed and the salesman did the paperwork.

Two hours later I was the proud owner of a new Ford Fusion. It was a sangria red color. The seats were dark, black leather, power windows and locks, with cruise control, which was my favorite. It was very simple, none of that navigation and satellite radio stuff. It was simple car for a simple girl. The rest of the day was spent buying more items. We went to bedding stores and clothing stores. I got new jeans and a couple of shirts. My most important buy was a raincoat. We had lunch at the mall and then made our way back home. It was the most fun I had, had in forever.

By Wednesday night everything inside was done. The living room was painted a nice, soothing grey color. The light cream colored furniture helped brighten the room wonderfully. There was a couch, loveseat, two glass end tables and a coffee table facing the new flat screen TV that was hanging above the fireplace. Also by the fireplace was a matching chair with ottoman that would be perfect to read in. The room had accents of red to make it seem nicer. I placed pictures of my parents on the mantle, so I could always see their smiling faces.

The kitchen had a nice laminate countertop that looked like real granite and went naturally with the stainless steel appliances. This was one of the rooms that didn't have hardwood flooring, but white tile I had worked hard to clean. I painted the kitchen a nice cream, tan color that went with the small, round, black table and chairs. Off of the kitchen was the small foyer that was painted the same as the kitchen I just placed a small table for my keys and a mirror above that.

The bathroom on the second floor pretty much stayed the same. I just painted it a light blue and bought some towels. My old bedroom from when I was young, I decided to make it the guest room. Since this room had the smallest bed, I decided to make it an office for me to do my school work.

My parent's old master bedroom is now my room. It has a chair rail going all the way around the room. The top half I painted white and the bottom is a dark midnight blue. The light color flooring goes perfect with the espresso sleigh bed. It also came with a matching dresser and attached mirror and two nightstands. The comforter is white with embroidered flowers and has the same matching blue sheets. The whole house flows together and makes it seem bright and airy for a small rainy town. I loved it all. I was proud of everything I had done.

All the locks were in place so no one would ever be able to get to me. There were window locks, and four different locks on the door. I knew I should not be living alone, but I needed to gain some independence and this was just the start. It is a wonderful start to the new and improved me. It is time for me to move on, start my new life and I'm ready for it. No more living in the dark.